Setting Up Rules

Rules define the boundaries within which your agents operate. Set them up before deploying to production to prevent unexpected costs and usage patterns.

Types of Rules

Spend Limits

Cap how much your agents can spend within a given time period or operation:

Scope	Description	Use Case
Per Run	Maximum spend for a single agent execution	Prevent infinite loops from draining your budget
Daily	Maximum spend per 24-hour period	Set a daily budget ceiling
Weekly	Maximum spend per 7-day period	Align with budget review cycles
Monthly	Maximum spend per calendar month	Match billing periods

Usage Limits

Control how many operations your agents can perform:

Scope	Description	Use Case
API Calls	Maximum number of requests to a service	Prevent excessive polling or retry loops
Tokens	Maximum tokens consumed (for LLM services)	Control model usage costs
Per Service	Limits scoped to a specific capability	Different limits for verification vs. search

Creating Rules in the Dashboard

Navigate to Rules in the Sapiom dashboard and click Create Rule. Choose from Spend Limit, Usage Limit, or Rate Limit types, then set the amount and period.

1. Click Create Rule
2. Select the rule type (spend or usage)
3. Configure the scope and limit
4. Choose which agents the rule applies to (all agents, specific agents, or agent groups)
5. Save the rule

Rules take effect immediately. Existing transactions are not affected, but new transactions will be evaluated against the rule.

What Happens When a Limit is Reached

When a transaction would exceed a rule’s limit:

1. Transaction is blocked — The service call does not proceed
2. Agent receives an error — A clear error message indicates which limit was exceeded
3. Event is logged — The blocked transaction appears in your dashboard with rule details

Your agent code should handle limit errors gracefully:

try {
  const result = await client.get('/service-endpoint');
} catch (error) {
  if (error.code === 'LIMIT_EXCEEDED') {
    // Handle limit gracefully - log, notify, or fallback
    console.log(`Limit exceeded: ${error.rule}`);
  }
}

Best Practices

• Start conservative — Set lower limits initially and raise them as you understand usage patterns
• Use per-run limits in development — Catch infinite loops before they become expensive
• Layer your limits — Combine per-run, daily, and monthly limits for comprehensive protection
• Monitor before restricting — Use the dashboard to understand baseline usage before setting limits
• Set alerts below limits — Get notified at 80% of a limit so you can adjust before blocking

Related

• Agents & Identity — Track which agents are driving costs
• Activity — View transaction history and rule events